


Where Loyalty is Buried

by The_Jashinist



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Gore, Gen, Ionian Darkwill, i'm pretty sure this is definitely not canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2019-04-21 05:40:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14278101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Jashinist/pseuds/The_Jashinist
Summary: Katarina had always expected her loyalty to be tested, but not like this.





	Where Loyalty is Buried

Katarina had known Boram Darkwill since childhood.  Du Couteau was one of the only Noble houses Darkwill had kept by his side; he saw use in people who could fight with a blade.  Katarina had memory upon memory of standing in an audience chamber, watching generals bark at each other in anger, silenced only by the firm orders of a man half their size, and a quarter their volume.  In Darkwill, Katarina saw a leader with grace and power, and she respected both in kind.  Darkwill had taught her strength came in words as well as blades, in how you commanded a room with nothing more than presence.

Katarina stepped into the audience chamber slowly, noting the sheer emptiness of the room.  The throne sat empty, the chamber fell in a soft hum, only broken by her and Talon’s echoing footsteps across the stone floor.  Beside her, Talon lowered his hood and eyed the spaces between the pillars, looking for someone who might be hiding behind one as they passed.  Katarina looked to the high rafters, searching for the same.  If this was someone’s idea of a good assassination attempt, they’d picked the wrong blades.

Finally, there was movement, behind the throne, and Darkwill stepped into view, something clenched tightly in his hand, but held out of sight.  Darkwill tilted his head slightly, a motion that Katarina always thought made him look like a curious bird but was never a good sign on its own.

“You called on us,” Talon said, so matter-of-fact that Darkwill cracked a smile.

“Yes, about that,” Darkwill tossed the object in his hand forwards, and it landed with an uncomfortable thud at Katarina’s feet, skidding across the floor and leaving a streak of deep crimson in its wake.  Katarina looked at the thing, a head, its face to the floor.  When she lifted it, she saw Talon tense out of the corner of her eye.

It was her father, or at least, what remained of her father, the rest was probably torn apart by one of Darkwill’s drakehounds.   Katarina had seen the Grand General feed men to the beasts more than once, usually some smart-mouthed fool unaware that Darkwill could just dispose of the unnecessary middle man and get what he wanted himself.  There was nothing, truly, quite like the stunned look of realization that came across a cocky governor’s face when a drakehound was let off its leash and given a single, snarled order, the one word of Ionian Katarina knew: Kill.

“I wanted him to tell you,” Darkwill granted, “it would’ve made all of this so much easier, but I’m afraid he’s not willing to put his personal ambitions aside, so it has to go like this.”

“What’s going on?” Katarina asked, lowering her father’s head, “Why is my father dead?”

Darkwill descended the steps that lead to his throne, standing level with the two assassins, “I think the better question you should be asking yourself is: Will I end up like him?”

Katarina glared at Darkwill, locking eyes with him.  Since she’d lost her father’s favor, she hadn’t seen the soft, warm tones of silver that signaled Darkwill’s affection, instead, there was only the bite of cold steel boring into her.

“Why is my father dead?” Katarina repeated.

Darkwill let out a slow sigh, “Because I’m not going to be the Grand General anymore, in fact, the throne of Noxus will lie empty by the end of the year, for good.  Noxus is falling to pieces, and it’s been decided, for the good of Noxus, that one person will no longer rule the empire.”

“This wasn’t your idea,” Talon commented.

“No,” Darkwill agreed, “it wasn’t, but that hardly matters, all things considered, not to you two.”

Darkwill turned on his heels and returned to his throne, sitting down and leaning back, his legs crossed and a single pointed nail tapping against his lips.

“What does this have to do with us?” Katarina asked.

“You have a choice,” Darkwill revealed, “you can be one of the privileged few amid this inner circle, or you can join General Du Couteau, as drake meat.”

Katarina shot a glance at Talon, who returned it, a flicker of anger in his eyes, but not enough to cloud his judgment.  Their way out may have been open, but if they ran they’d be hunted down within a day, and their chance of fighting Darkwill?  Katarina was good, but she wasn’t that good, and she prayed to whatever god was convenient that her father hadn’t inflated Talon’s self-importance to the point where he thought he could take a fully-trained war-dancer.

Darkwill leaned on the arm of his throne and tilted his head to the side.  The motion that made him look like a curious bird; the motion that signaled that something was wrong.  It began to dawn on her that she’d been so profoundly lucky to be out of her father’s favor, not in his grip so tightly that she’d rather be drake meat than loyal to a man whose very gaze was like a steel blade.

“I have a question,” Talon stepped forwards, and Katarina felt a lump in her throat.  She’d always liked Talon, one of the few protégés of her father with a level head and a genuineness to him.  He was, however, steadfastly loyal to Katarina’s father, and that usually didn’t mean anything good.

“Go on,” Darkwill nodded.

“What was Du Couteau’s problem with this new government?”

Darkwill’s eyes flickered slightly, “Tell me Talon, what kind of men do you think truly lead Noxus?”

“I don’t think there is one kind of man,” Talon replied, “I’m not General Darius, but I serve the empire the same as him.”

“Do you think words hold the same power as a blade?” Darkwill asked.

“If they didn’t, you wouldn’t be on the throne, would you?” Talon pointed out.  Darkwill smirked and stood.

“That was his problem; he disagrees.  This new rule, it is a council of three.  Three men to rule Noxus, to keep the others in check.  I think you’ve seen what my short-sighted ambition has done to the empire.”

Talon nodded.

“So, a good friend advised me to take this opportunity and give up power.  Unfortunately, it’s a little more complicated than that.  I can’t just let go of the throne of Noxus, there’s a certain thorn in this court who fancies herself a rose, and if she has her way, she’ll hold the same sway over the council as she holds over the court.  It’s a gamble, but I think I know how to scrub my hands of this whole debacle, but I need a bit more guile to pull it off.  The General had his chance and refused it because he thinks a blade can rule better than three men.  Now, it falls to you, both of you.”  Darkwill smiled, “Of course I did call you both banking on one saying no, but thrice the guile is welcome as twice, perhaps more.”

“What would you have us do?” Katarina asked.

“Help me and a few others stage a coup,” Darkwill answered, “not a real one mind, just one to make the court think me dead, and an old friend a usurper.”

“I take it that was his idea?” Katarina guessed.  She had a feeling she knew exactly who Darkwill’s old friend was, she was almost tingling with excitement to work with some of the best strategists in Noxus to pull this off.  Her father be damned, whatever ambition that stood between him and one of the most underhanded tricks in Noxian history was his loss.

“Well of course,” Darkwill confirmed, “Talon, you’ve been oddly quiet.”

“You called assassins, that means you need at least a few people to disappear,” Talon sounded like he was desperately trying to keep his voice level, “so tell me, who?”

Darkwill looked between Katarina and Talon, “How much do the two of you know about Zaun?”

**Author's Note:**

> I honestly don't think this one's as good as the rest, but I do want to introduce, a bit more, Boram Darkwill's presence being a lot more...intimidating? I dunno the last work I posted with Boram didn't really show him as someone with power.


End file.
